12 Inspiring Flower Bed Ideas

Enjoy a dazzling view from your house, deck or patio with a flower bed full of vibrant color. These 12 gardens show some great options.

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Tulips, forget-me-nots and pansies garden flower beds
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Regal Tulip Flower Bed

Nothing says spring quite like the regal tulip. Trouble is, by themselves, tulips sometimes look a bit stiff and regimented. Underplant them with companions like blue forget-me-nots (Myosotis spp.) and yellow pansies (Viola spp.) to anchor the flowers in the bed.

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multicolored snapdragons purple, white and yellow pansies
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Multicolored Snapdragons Flower Bed

Spring color can also be found with annuals. In this idea, multicolored snapdragons hold court with vibrant red geraniums and a mix of purple and white pansies. The vibrant colors are sure to draw appreciative looks from your neighbors.

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purple larkspur red poppies garden flower beds
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Purple Larkspur Highlights Flower Bed

These purple larkspur (Consolida ajacis) hold sway over red poppies and white daisies, providing a naturalistic wildflower look. Daisies are among the easiest perennials to grow, while larkspur and poppies are rampant self-seeders that will sow a new crop year after year.

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flowering cactus garden
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Cacti Diversity Flower Bed

Golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) is an intriguing fixture in the desert garden. The size and shape—contrasted by the upright cactus and the fist-sized cacti in bloom—guarantee visual interest. These cacti are also a great choice if you’re looking for drought-tolerant landscaping ideas.

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white and red checkered begonia garden
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Bright Begonias Flower Bed

Just about 180 degrees in the opposite direction of prickly cacti are these bright and shiny begonias. And what a great use for these pretty annuals. Set them in a checkerboard pattern and instantly create a “55 miles per hour” flower bed—in other words, one that attracts attention even from passing motorists.

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flower bed
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Warm Colors Flower Bed

Orange and yellow are warm colors—full of fun and frolic. They’re in ample supply here, with orange Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia spp.) backing up a river of yellow marigolds. Purple salvia punctuates the scene. All three flowers are pollinator favorites, too. So you’re giving yourself a gorgeous view while supporting important members of the ecosystem!

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flower bed garden red chest
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Large Boxes as Centerpieces in Your Flower Bed

A piece of unexpected garden art in the form of a large red box makes its presence felt in garden flower beds. It’s joined by easy-growing annuals calibrachoa, zinnia, salvia, euphorbia, marigold and cleome.

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pink white red heather flowers
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Heather Backdrop Flower Bed

The pink, red and white heathers would make a pretty picture on their own, but they’re set off even more attractively by a backdrop of pink sedum. Meanwhile, blue fescue adds textural contrast as well as a place to rest the eye among all the color.

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flower bed garden
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Covering Slopes Flower Bed

When you’ve got a slope, you might as well take advantage of the existing stage by stair-stepping plants. This bed features red petunias, hot-pink cosmos, yellow marigolds, white and pink cleome, and blood-red celosia.

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wild flowers garden
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Add Bold Bursts to Your Flower Bed

A terrific burst of color is what you get when you plant a mix of bluebonnet (Lupinus spp.), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja spp.) and yellow aster. How could garden flower beds not look divine with an artful mix of these colors? Adding flower bed stones is a great way to add texture to your landscape, too.

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pink roses on white fence
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Add Some Pink to Your Flower Bed

Pink roses and white picket fences just naturally go together. Add some perennial purple salvia and chartreuse euphorbia, and you end up with a charming scene worthy of a painting. They’re all perennials so the flowers will come back year after year. Better yet, the roses will scent the walkway with their heavenly fragrance.

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perennial flower bed
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Perennial Winners Flower Bed

And we finish off with another perennial bed, this one with a different color scheme and a less formal bearing. It features hosta, daylilies, sedum, wallflower, ligularia and ajuga. It’s perfect if you want some lovely greenery to balance out the brighter colors.

Luke Miller
Luke Miller is an award-winning garden editor with 25 years' experience in horticultural communications, including editing a national magazine and creating print and online gardening content for a national retailer. He grew up across the street from a park arboretum and has a lifelong passion for gardening in general and trees in particular. In addition to his journalism degree, he has studied horticulture and is a Master Gardener.